Need Some Advice

Hey PD gang, I have a question for you,

I decided today to switch my life goals from medical school, to a BFA. I'm not entirely sure this is what I'm going to do, but I'm in three bio classes right now, and there are just too many things I don't agree with (this is entirely different topic )

But I'm wondering; I know there are a few college art students out there, and a lot of wonderful minds that I would love to have some input from. I really trust all of you here and have come to call quite a few of you my friends....So, any suggestions?

I've fought the battle on what it is I could do with a BFA, and just can't decide. As far as medicine goes, I would love the opportunity to take care of others (I'd originally been thinking pediatrics), but the classes I'm having to go through now are just....well, like I said before, it's an entirely different topic.

Every bit of feedback in appreciated!

Well, I'm not a college student yet but I will be when my classes start in the Spring. ^_^

I think you should try to sit in a quiet room by yourself and think about your choices. Imagine your life and how it could go for the rest of your time going both ways. I mean, think about as much as you could to whatever you think may happen in both directions. Then think about what one is a life you would really be happy in. ^_^ Well, that's what I did anyway.

Hey Karana,

       Firstly, what exactly is a FBA? I think you should write why you dont want to keep on studying Medecine, i believe it has everything to do with this. Getting to know what you don't want to do and what you don't like is the first step in getting to know what you want... I had to try a lot of things to know myself enough to the point where without knowing exactly where i was heading, i knew at least the direction. I hope it makes sense.

I'm 25 and im studying in University and that for 4 years, i tried , hum, 3 subect before stumbling on THE subject, history. I still don't know what i'll do with a Bac in history but i have faith that along the way the answer will come. I've check the job opportunities and i believe i'll make a good choice, anyway for me, even a bad choice is a good choice because it helps you get to know yourself, so its not in vain. I hope i helped a bit...

Much love

Chris Petrocchi: Electronic Arts
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As someone who works in medicine, I want to tell you that I think you would have made a wonderful doctor and the profession is missing out big time.  I am, however, delighted that you are following your dreams and I wish you the best of luck!

I'm not a doctor, but I considered it.  I switched to a different aspect for many reasons...many probably the same as you.  I ended up graduating magna cum laude from my university with my degree and people kept asking me, "Why aren't you going to medschool?  You're sure to get in."  People may not understand the reasoning behing your choice because many people look at the career as being prestigious.  I disagree now that I've seen it first hand, but that's an entirely different issue.  I am thrilled in my choice and would never dream of going for an MD or DO now, so I sympathize with you in having to make the choice.  My gut tells me it will be the right one for you...besides, I'm a little prejudice against doctors now that I work with them LOL.

I have no advice on art as everyone knows I can't even draw a straight line (okay so that's exaggerated but you get it).  All I can say is that I've seen countless times that when people follow their hearts, things work out for the best.

Congrats and good luck!

I may not be studying in art Red but i'll be in school for a long time too... When i started my program i was convinced that i'd finish my bachelor in 3 years...pfff...reality came crashing in soon enough. Its three years minimum and in history its almost impossible to take 5 classes in a trimester. I have 4 classes and i'm struggling, i want good grades, which i have achieve so far but damn i don't have time for anything else, at this rythm i should finish in 4 or 5 years, if everything is fine. I used to study art in college but back then i was lost and didn't know who i was and what i wanted to do in life, but sometime i wished i had kept on studying instead of droping everything to work...Ah, but as my favorite cliché says, everything happens for a reason.

I agree with you Emmet, most people don't understand why we make the choices we do, mainly because they are not in our heads. Most of my family were convinced i was passing throught a phase and would never stop working to return to school, now that i am back, they dont agree with my choice and except for my sister,and hope i'll fail. Its true though how many people choose a job for the prestige or the money they'll make...I dunno but for me if a person choose a program for these reasons, poor them... I don't think they're the good reasons and doubt it will bring real happiness in life, sure its important to have a bit of money, but to center your life on this point?! I dunno...

My goodness,

Thanks so much, everyone, for all your replies!

TMD: I've had my share of alone time with this one....I'm an internalizer though, so it's been helping to get it out there to other people. It's always good to get the gears turning though.

Lili: What a great idea. I've had all the pros and cons swimming around in my head for such a long time now; maybe seeing them in ink will help to solidify my reasons. And I know that with either I decide to go with, I'll be spending a whole heap load of time in school. I guess that doesn't bother me much though.

Emmet: I think that's the best compliment I've ever received. Thank you, so much. One of the main reasons I don't want to give up on being a physician is because I don't want to spend the rest of my life, wondering if I stopped just because I didn't give the material enough time. There are things I'm still very attracted to, scientifically, but there are things that are so far off my moral scope, I'm having trouble seeing myself in them for the next ten or eleven years of my life.

Red: Thank you for sharing your experience with me. I haven't shed any tears yet, but I've done my share of getting choked up. I've known this was coming since my freshman year of highschool, and now that it's here, I feel completely unprepared.

Alot of what I've based this on (I keep flip flopping, even changed my mind again last night, and again this morning) is the frame of mind this 'Pre-Med' program is asking me to be in. And don't be mistaken, pre-med really doesn't have anything to do with 'medicine', it's the basic, scientific end of things. Anyway, I'm a very religious person who's feeling really out her element. I'm in a bio class right now that's hard for me to even sit through; let alone take down the information, learn, and know it (as if I accepted it) and be graded on it. Right there's my curve ball. And it doesn't help that I'm at a  big ten university that's extremely scientifically minded. The professor of my last bio lecture was the woman who discovered that proteins are made on the ribosomes, not the in the cytoplasm... We're also the place cloning started...Half of me wants to use these people as tools to learn about the world around me, give me a better scope on just how we work, how everything works. But the other half is hearing these things and cringing, wondering if I should be in the same lecture hall as the minds who think they have the power to control life........

I've thought about different universities, especially those that cater to my religion, but to make that move would be to admit that I wasn't going to medical school. IU has one of the best medical schools out there, and almost all those that apply through IU's pre-med program (and meet the requirements of course) are accepted. That's an opportunity I can't miss out on. And being a physician, for me, has never been about the money. Believe it or not, there's a time in a new doctor's life where a plumber is going to make more, just because of all the debt accrued in medical school (upwards of 200,000 dollars), and that's not counting what it cost to get the pre-med either. So my decision will never be based on that; unless, we come to place the where I talk about wanting to have a family. We're here, so, let's talk.

I would someday love to have a family, and to have that family, I would need a job that could gurantee support. I know there are many ways to make a very good living for yourself in art (as Susie pointed out), but I guess I don't feel like I have the kind of talent it would take to do that. I know I'm just in my first year of college, but like you were saying about the programs your in now Susie, I get intimidated by the people around me who are better than me. Makes me worry that it's always going to be like this, and then I'll be left high and dry with no way to support myself, let alone a family. And my original plan, as I'll have to carry out for the rest of this semester, was to get my B.A. in art, while still heavily focusing in science to fulfill the med school requirements (i.e. My schedule this semester is 3 bio classes, 2 art classes and english). This could continue to work if I could convince myself that I'm not wrongfully accepting what I'm being taught.

Ugh, why is life so difficult! I feel like I'm going crazy. Every time I bring up one issue in my head, it flip flops to the other and I'm left with a big I'm just going to have to keep talking about it; I've got an entire semester left to think about it (really the rest of my college career) so I'm going to be revisiting this alot.

Thanks so much everyone for your replies, and I hope to hear more nuggets of widsom!

Well sweetie, the best advice I can give you is to follow your heart. I know that sounds really cliched, but it is the most sound advice I can give.  Sure you can listen to your head and follow the program that makes the most sense and plan your future out from there, but then you will always be kicking yourself in the butt for not following your passion. I suppose that either road you decide to go down, you will always be faced with the "what if's?" And somewhere inside of yourself, you have to decide what you really want to sacrifice. I am sorry I can't give you any better advice or any better words of wisdom. This, unfortunately, is something you'll have to discover on your own in time. Dang... since when did I become so wise? I feel so old....

Yes, morality is a huge part of the job.  If you have question, please feel free to send me a PM.  I would be more then willing to tell you what I've experienced and the kind of things I've done.  Just remember that morality is a question in almost everything that you do, so follow what your heart tells you to do.  Don't try to do the sensible thing only because it is sensible. 

My advice is this, imagine yourself in both careers.  Think about how you would feel waking up each morning (or getting a call in the middle of the night from some pesky nurse) as a doctor.  Would you be excited to go make rounds on your patients while balancing your out patient office and family?  Would you jump out of bed chipper and ready to start another day?

Now picture yourself doing something with a BFA.  Are you excited to get up in the morning and spew out creativity?  Do you jump up and down when you realize that you need to go buy supplies?  As you look at the work that you've done, do you feel satisfied and proud?

What I'm getting at here is whatever career you decide, you should feel passionate and excited about it.  It should be something that you love doing.  Let that guide you in your decision and people are right, you can do both.  Just make sure you get your prereq's done too.  I had a friend in college who majored in polysci but went to medschool.  She worked her tushi off, but she did it.  Being a doctor is nothing like what you're probably learning right now.  Are you an undergrad?  If so, I can gurantee you there is a world of difference, but it sounds like your concerns are more centered on what you've seen/experienced with medicine and less about the subjects your studying.

Once again, if you want an insider's view of medicine, let me know.  I wiill be happy to answer your questions in whatever way I can or give you examples of what I face in my career.  Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help.  Happiness in life is important, so I'm glad to hear that you are giving it a lot of thought.  Often times the best road is not the easiest.

Career change? Sounds exciting.

I just recently started school for my BS.  (LOL, yeah I know how that looks) I'm past week one and, jeez, was I freaking!  I haven't been in school since 1998!!  I'm still a little nervous.  And I realize that it might take years before I graduate.  I read something somewhere that said...

You won't regret what you did do as much as what you didn't do. 

My interpretation isn't quite as inspiring. Heh...

If the medical field truly isn't rubbing you the right way - move on.  It doesn't mean you failed.  Not at all. At least that's how I see it.

Yeah,

Long hours issues are going to span both careers; and don't get me wrong, I think I would love being a physician too...It's just this preliminary garbage I have to get through to get to where I can feel like I'm focused in medicine.

I think this is the toughest time I'm going to have to go through, as far as my conscience is concerned. Medical school has to deal with understanding the body, the way it works and what can go wrong with it...and how to treat it of course. And I don't want to spend my days feeling like I gave up in the beginning, just because the material wasn't accomodating to me. I can't ignore the fact that the majority of people agree with what's being taught; that's why they're considered facts. Maybe I need to just suck it up for now, and the reward will be to become a physician that can treat, and care for people (children hopefully) to the best of my knowledge, and the best of my spiritual self.

Well, I think I just made up my mind again. Don't be surprised if this topic pops up again some time; I know I'll have a change of mind in probably another week. But thank you, everyone, who gave your advice and shared your experiences with me. I don' t think I could have come through this feeling alright with my decision had you not.

Loves and huggles to everyone.

Whatever you decide will be write for you.  Trust yourself, you've made it this far, right?  Besides, you can always change your mind again if you want.  Very few things are ever permanent...except tattoos and death....

Big hug!

Indeed!

*soaks in the love* Thanks again everyone.

You are so right Emmet, i live my life by this rule. Whatever i choose in life, it can never be a bad choise and if im unhappy, i can always take a different path! The only problem we have in our lives are the ones we create ourselves!

Much love Heidi! and too all too!

I still can't decide. My 3-D class is going like crap, but my 2-D is awesome. I've just got to take everything with a grain of salt for now...I'll keep everyone updated, that's for sure!

Lovies and huggles to all!

You are so right Emmet, i live my life by this rule. Whatever i choose in life, it can never be a bad choise and if im unhappy, i can always take a different path! The only problem we have in our lives are the ones we create ourselves!

Much love Heidi! and too all too!

Thank you, It took me a long time to learn this, but maybe I'm finally getting the hang of it.  Take tonight for example, I had to make one of the toughest decisions of my life.  I know I made the right choice, but it sure doesn't feel like it right now.  That might not make sense, but unfortunately I can't really devulge much info about it...you know....privacy rules and the like.

karana kaou,

Please keep us posted!  I'm really excited for you!  Good luck my dear!

Hi all,

          Life sometimes...it can give us so many tips on the direction we should take. Listen to this...yesterday was a strange day...i went to the library to write a text for school. Something happen and i had to come home, i decide to check out my e-mail before doing this damn text. An e-mail made me realise that i completely forgot to send  my inscription to the university for the next semester...and time as run up. I wont be able to return to university this september.  I sat back and funny, i didn't mind. So, i went to check the mail ( the real one) and i received one from the Herbalism school... Couple of years ago i took classes on herbalism and LOVED it. The mail was about a classes that start in septembe to be a professional Herbalist (Phytotherapist)... Heidi, now i know exactly how you feel like. I love history, i love to learn but i never knew what i could do with a bachelor in history. So, im at a crossroad...the day before yesterday i was so sure i wanted to study in history for 5 years and be broke for 5 years, now, i'm thinking about herbalism...  I dont know what to do. Though in a way i do...my heart is telling what i should choose, i'm just a bit scared of dropping what i've been working so hard on. But what's funny, is that i can still keep 1 or 2 classes at the university, work (AND HAVE MONEY) and in sptember start classes for herbalism , where i'd still be able to have a full time job. Theres nothing preventing me to keep going to school for fun...

  im thinking out loud here i guess...

Emmet, i know how it feels... but if it can help, i read in a book that when our heads can fool us, our emotions never do. If you want you can pm about it... Much love!!!